Free The Nanny by Evelyn Piper Page B

did have a couple of other things on it, God knew.
    But he hadn’t been home more than a minute when the house phone rang and it was the English nurse again saying, please sir, she must see him at once, sir. Mrs. Gore-Green had come, she said, and would stay with Master Joey, so if she could just step down for a minute.…
    He went across the lobby to his office. Then she stood there in front of his desk in the consultation room, a big old woman, twisting her apron between her two hands, such a picture of shame that his mind jumped, of course, to Roberta. So many times Roberta’s victims had that look of shame on their faces when they told him what his daughter had done. And because he now believed it was something to do with Roberta, he became frightened. “Well? I haven’t got all night,” his voice said, as if only impatient. Because a physician must not show such fright.
    â€œSir, it would be better for the master and madam if you knew what made them sick.… Is that correct, sir?”
    Nothing to do with Roberta, thank God. “Sure. Why? Are you suggesting it wasn’t the tunafish?”
    â€œYes, sir. That is, no, sir. Oh, I’m not sure!” She lifted the apron and took a bottle out of a pocket and set it on the desk. “I found this in Master Joey’s room, sir.”
    He picked up the bottle. “Spirit of Ipecac. It’s an emetic. Makes you vomit. Are you saying that this is what made them sick?”
    â€œBack home we used to give it as a tonic, sir, for children. Three drops. It picked them up something wonderful, sir, so, not knowing if I could get it in the States, I just took it along with me from home. Well, sir, the long and short of it is, I used to give it to Master Joey. A very peaked child he was. It was wicked of me, sir, because Madam didn’t wish me to give it to the children. It is very old-fashioned, I suppose, but sir, the long and the short of it is, I did.”
    â€œGo on. Go on.” Because he didn’t want her to go on. He knew what was coming.
    â€œBecause he was a willful child and wanted to dose himself … you saw how willful, sir … well, I told Master Joey that he couldn’t dose himself because if more than three drops went into his pudding … I used to give it to him in his pudding, sir … it would …” she swallowed hard. “It would kill him.”
    He heard how dry his voice was. (To hide what he felt.) “Are you saying that this kid put the Spirit of Ipecac into the tunafish to kill his parents?” Then she told him everything, how it could have been done: opportunity, method, timing. How the kid’s own pudding was marked but he hadn’t touched it anyhow, to make absolutely sure. (God, how careful they were!) She reeled off the whole thing. “And he guessed you found it and that’s why he was so scared? That’s why he said you’d kill him, huh? What’s he got against his folks?” he said wearily.
    â€œOf course they had to send him off to that School, sir. He didn’t want to go but the doctor thought it best, so they had to send him.”
    â€œA doctor sent him to school? Why a doctor?” He could see her closing up. “I think you better tell me. You better tell me how come you suspect that a kid of …”
    â€œMaster Joey is just past eight, sir.”
    â€œâ€¦ tried to murder …” It was an attempt to murder since he believed that more than three drops would be fatal. There must have been a hell of a lot more than three drops to make them vomit up their guts that way! “What makes you suspect this kid could …”
    She said quietly, “You don’t know about Master Ralphie, sir, how he died.”
    â€œNo,” he said grimly. “I don’t know how Master Ralphie died. You sit down and tell me. Sit down,” he repeated. “Make yourself comfortable.” Because he had been so